Articles Tagged: rum reviews

Shellback Rum is a new offering from Grande Antilles Cane Spirits (Gallo).

A mid-range offering, Shellback Silver and Spiced versions. Made at the famed West Indies Rum Distillery in Barbados, Shellback Silver Rum is made using a combination of pot and column still distillates that are then blended together. The resulting rum, is smooth and fruity. It makes a killer base for rum punch.

New on the rum scene is Shellback Rum from the folks in Modesto, Grande Antilles Cane Spirits (Gallo). No, it is not produced in Modesto, the rum is made at the famed West Indies Rum Distillery in Barbados.

Our friends at Copa Spirits recently sent us a bottle of Arehucas Ron Miel Rum, a honey rum from the Canary Islands that they recently introduced to the United States. Arehucas is the oldest and largest rum distiller in Europe with its founding back in the 1880's. But, the history of honey rum or Ron Miel, as its known, goes back even further in the Canary Islands. For over 300 years, the inhabitants of the Canary Islands have enjoyed honey rum. Finally, Ron Miel has come to America.

I don’t know of many distilleries that move from one country to another. But when thinking of roving distilleries, a couple of famous ones come to mind. The Bacardi Family fled Cuba after Castro took control. Luckily they already had a distillery in Puerto Rico for tax reasons, so they moved the bulk of the operation there. Castro got to keep the original Bacardi distillery, where they now the Caney and Santiago Brands. Angostura Bitters … Read more

It’s not often that we run across women distillers. In the case of Zacapa Rum, the master distiller is a wonderful woman named Lorraina. Believe us, Lorraina makes some mean rum.

An aged rum named after the town of Zacapa, Guatemala., which combines the best of low and high altitudes. Zacapa is a combination of sugar cane honey extracted from sugar cane grown near sea level, fermented with yeast extracted from pineapples and then slow … Read more

This week has been the week of Brugal rum for us—an intensive tasting and then a soirée. We can’t say that we minded as it gave us a couple of opportunities to try this outstanding new entrant into the rum market.

Brugal 1888 is the newest offering from Brugal Rums, a distillery out of the Dominican Republic, that was interestingly enough founded in 1888. Brugal 1888 isn’t your ordinary rum; as Brugal proclaims, this is … Read more

Brugal Añejo is a Dominican rum that’s a blend aged three to five years in American white oak casks. The first thing I noticed when they sent me a bottle for review was the gold net over the bottle, which made me think of pirates … for some reason.

But once I cracked it open, I found a pleasing rum that’s a good value at $20 a bottle. The nose is almost all wood and … Read more

A nice afternoon surprise, a bottle of Cruzan 9 Spiced rum arrived. It’s even numbered #140 of their first 500!

Spiced rum seems to be all the rage this fall. To capitalize on this trend, Cruzan sought to develop a ‘real’ spiced rum. They came up with the 80-proof Cruzan 9, a unique blend of nine spices, handcrafted by the Nelthropp family, now in their 8 generation of rum distilling. Cruzan 9, is made of

Booze that tastes good, looks good, and comes at a reasonable price? Now, there’s a holiday gift! The Kraken Rum is a black spice Caribbean rum with a solid kick and a strong molasses, cinnamon, and vanilla flavor. It’s 94 proof, so it packs quite a punch served straight.

A kraken is a giant squid, so the fun concept is that it’s a strong liquor as dark as squid ink. The packaging is beautiful, making … Read more

Some friends went to Puerto Rico and brought back some Ron del Barrilito rum.

I wouldn’t normally consider rum a sipping drink and instead normally use it in cocktails. However, this rum has a unique sweet flavor (from the molasses) and smooth taste that makes it a pleasure to drink on its own.

The brown sugar nose and layered taste mean that instead of a flat, sweet flavor you get a complex liquor that slowly … Read more